Human remains found this weekend along the Minnesota River in Burnsville are “suspicious” and will be autopsied later this week after thawing, investigators said Tuesday.

The Dakota County sheriff’s office and Burnsville police are working together to determine how the human remains ended up in a holding pond near Interstate 35W and Black Dog Road. A fisherman found the badly decomposed remains around 3:45 p.m. Sunday.

Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said Tuesday that “some factors” and evidence at the scene “lead us to think in our minds (the death) was suspicious, that it was not a drowning.”

The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office might be able to conduct the autopsy Thursday to try to determine the gender and age of the victim and the cause of death, Leslie said.

“There was a lot of decomposition,” he said.

Because the remains were still frozen in ice, investigators cut the ice around them to capture any possible evidence in the frozen water, he said.

Leslie encouraged anyone with possible information or concerns to call a sheriff’s office recorded TIP line at 651-438-TIPS (8477).

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